8'3" x 8'3" Round Wool and Silk Oriental Rug | Tabriz Design Medallion | New, Never Used

A true circle at 8'3" x 8'3", this hand-knotted rug was woven on a workshop loom in the Tabriz design idiom: one radiating medallion, a dense field of curved vine work, and a wide floral border that follows the curve of the rug without a single broken line. The pile is wool with silk used for outlining and highlight, which is why the palmettes and leaf tips catch the light differently than the ivory ground around them. Round rugs of this diameter are genuinely hard to find well drawn, because every motif has to be redrawn to the arc rather than simply repeated, and the drawing here holds true all the way to the fringe. It has never been used, the pile stands full and even, and it ships with a certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The center holds a small 8 petal rosette set inside a burgundy disc, ringed by cream and sage palmettes and then by a scalloped, cloud band style surround in green and camel. From that core the design radiates outward in 3 concentric rings of lobed cartouches and pointed leaf shields, so the eye reads the medallion as a starburst rather than a flat disc. Beyond the medallion the ivory field carries a full all over vine scroll of open roses, tulip heads, serrated leaves and small rosettes, drawn with fine dark outlining that keeps every stem legible. A narrow sage green band separates the field from the camel gold main border, which alternates upright floral sprays with large palmettes and is framed on both sides by matching guard stripes of running vine. The finish is equally careful: the edge is overcast in ivory and the fringe is hand-tied and braided all the way around the circle.

Ivory, Olive Green and Gold Through the Whole Circle

The field is a warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than white, which keeps the rug soft under both daylight and lamplight. Against it the designer set 2 greens: a muted olive that fills the ring around the medallion and the inner guard band, and a lighter sage that appears in leaves, shields and small flower heads across the field. The main border is camel gold, a shade warmer and deeper than the field, so the circle reads as a gold rim holding an ivory center. Burgundy does the accent work, concentrated in the medallion core and repeated in small blossoms and outlines out to the border, with chocolate brown used for stems and shading. Scattered through the floral work are quiet touches of soft blue grey, rose and pale yellow that only show up close. The silk highlights lift the lighter tones, so the same motif can look pale gold from one side of the room and honey brown from the other.

Woven in China to the Tabriz Design Tradition

This piece was made in China, where the better workshops have long woven classical medallion patterns on cotton foundations with wool and silk pile, and it belongs squarely in the Oriental rugs family rather than any village tradition. The Tabriz name here describes the drawing, a curved line medallion with radiating cartouches and a floral main border, not the place of weaving, and the workshop reproduced it faithfully at a knot density fine enough to render the thin vine stems and the outlining cleanly. Turn the rug over and the back shows the whole pattern in sharp register, with straight, evenly spaced rows and a firm cotton foundation, which is the practical test of a workshop piece. If you are weighing how this category compares with village and city weaving elsewhere, our guide to the difference between Persian and Oriental rugs sets out what separates them.